Shaping Magic (Mistakes Return)

by Michael Dalrymple

  Everyone was dead. The corpses appeared to be sucked out, leaving just a husk of skin and bones. Looking at the bodies and then to the barrier, Lindon sent his thoughts out to see if he could find where the barrier was being fed from, what he sensed was in the middle of the city.

  Lindon made his way toward the center of the city, walking through the dead Elves scattered along the street. Seeing the dead and rotting bodies, Lindon couldn't express his grief. What had happened to them—how could they have allowed themselves to be killed like this? The biggest question he was asking himself was how he was going to tell Aina about her people.

  As he approached the center, he could see the lines of magic being drawn out of the ground and up into the barrier through a stone tower. The tower was twenty feet high and about five feet in diameter. When Lindon got closer, he could see runes on it—similar to what was on Fenella's house but at different spots. There was another type of rune that looked darker, more sinister then the rest.

  Lindon looked around the open area. There was no movement nor sound other then the low drone of the stone tower. Searching for some way to bring this to an end, Lindon decided his only way was to try to use the power it was sending up into the dome and loop it around. Hopefully, the power surge would destroy the tower and stop the transfer.

  “I hope this doesn't blow up in my face,” he whispered to himself.

  With one last look around, Lindon closed his eyes to take away any distraction. He sent his thoughts into the tower. Through feeling the flow of energy, he could sense the original purpose for the tower. It was meant to only be a light compulsion to confuse and misdirect unwanted visitors away from the Elven land. Instead, someone or something perverted it to what it was doing now, sucking the life out of everything inside the barrier; now that there wasn't much left it was doing it from outside the barrier as well.

  When Lindon could see the way, the flow was he was confident he could destroy the tower and shut off the flow of power. With concentration, Lindon took hold of the power coming from the tower with his mind. At first, it resisted his pull, but the more he put into the effort, he could feel it start to give way.

  Lindon was sweating from the exertion—not that it was draining him, it was just the concentration he was using. With one great heave against the line of power, it broke. At first it took everything Lindon had to stop from losing control of the power. When he had it under control, he brought the end down to the base of the tower and, using some of the magic that was stored inside of him from the crossing of the barrier, he rammed it into the base.

  The explosion of the stone tower was more than Lindon expected. With a great booming sound, it burst apart, sending debris outward in every direction. Lindon was blown backward, landing on his back. Momentarily dazed, Lindon lay there looking up at the barrier.

  “If I ever have to blow something up again, I have got to stand further away,” he said to himself with a rueful chuckle.

  Lindon picked himself off the ground and looked around at the destruction he had caused. There was a gaping hole about ten feet across where the stone tower once stood. Sending his thoughts out, he could feel the flow of magic was stopped and the lines of the earth's power was returning to normal. It would take many years, but Lindon thought it would bring life back to the area.

  A strange noise started in the distance. It sounded like screaming, but Lindon didn't know of any creature that could produce that kind of sound. Fearing that whatever had caused the deaths of the Elves was now coming to see what the noise was about, Lindon decided he didn't want to be here when it arrived.

  Turning and running, Lindon made his way back the way he came from. Lindon was maybe a hundred yards from the barrier when he looked over his shoulder just in time to see something reaching for him. At the last moment before he was grabbed, Lindon dove to the right. Completing a roll, he was up and facing the creature with both swords at the ready.

  “So, little Human, you dare come here and disrupt our plans,” the hooded creature said in a smooth and somehow compelling voice.

  Sensing some kind of trick, Lindon didn't answer. Instead, he sent his senses out toward the creature. He could feel the magic emanating from it and every word it spoke was laced with magical power.

  “What, nothing to say for yourself?” it asked with an evil-looking grin.

  Lindon somehow knew that this was the creature that was responsible for the demise of the Elven people. Lindon felt confident that he could block out whatever it was trying to do with its voice, and answered, “Who are you? Why have you killed the Elves?”

  The creature studied Lindon for a minute. With slow movements he brought his hands up to his hood. Pulling it back, Lindon was stunned. The face was almost too beautiful to look at. Lindon could feel his will starting to slip away at the sight of the creature. Lindon knew as soon as the hood was removed that this could only be one of the evil Merrow.

  With Lindon's will starting to slip, the twin swords he was holding started to dip toward the ground. The swords were almost touching the earth when a voice sounded in his head—the same one that spoke to him in the Dwarven castle. “Protect yourself,” it echoed in his head.

  With a roar, Lindon brought his swords back up, using the power he was carrying from the barrier to block the magic that this foul creature was using against him.

  “You will not have me that easy,” Lindon said, looking into the Merrow's eyes.

  The Merrow paused, surprised at his foe’s resilience, but not showing it. How is this possible? This pitiful Human should be on his knees before me, it thought to itself. Aloud it said, “If that is the way it is to be, then we can do it the hard way; it matters not to me.”

  The creature flipped off its cloak. The Merrow's face was not only beautiful to look at, so was its body. Towering over Lindon by a foot and a half, the Merrow's body was perfectly proportioned to its size. When it revealed itself to Lindon, the Merrow pulled a long sword from its side; the blade was as beautiful as its wielder, long and slender, but looked like it had a strength that beguiled its size.

  Faster than Lindon thought possible, the Merrow attacked. Lindon was barely able to get his blades in position to block; the impact sent tremors up Lindon's arms. Blow after blow the Merrow attacked. Lindon was backpedaling, not able to find his balance.

  Lindon could see the frustration written on the Merrow's face. The creature had supreme confidence in its abilities and yet here was a puny Human defying him—first by not succumbing to his magic and now daring to block his attacks. In the Merrow's mind, Lindon should have been under his control from the beginning, so he was puzzled as to how the Human had breached the barrier and destroyed the magical tower.

  Lindon could see the lack of skill that the Merrow demonstrated with each step. It relied on its magic, speed, and sheer strength to easily defeat any and all before him. Never having faced an opponent that could stand up to him, he grew frustrated, as never knowing defeat, he couldn't comprehend how this Human could still be fighting.

  Lindon could feel the magical barrier that he had created to counter the creature's mental attack start to wane. Fearing that it would end soon, leaving him vulnerable to the Merrow, Lindon did the only thing he could: he attacked.

  For the first time in its very long life, the Merrow had a taste of fear. This Human had not only stood up to him but was now on the offensive. Only the speed it possessed allowed it to block the attacks that were coming faster and faster.

  Just as Lindon was about to lose his magical protection, he scored a hit on the creature. It wasn't life threatening but it was enough to distract the Merrow long enough for Lindon to break contact, turn and run into the barrier, reforming his bubble of protection.

  With a roar of pure rage, the Merrow ran to the barrier where the Human had just escaped. Stopping just before it, he put its hand to the exact spot Lindon had entered. It still resisted his intrusion. If he tried to force his way in, it would eat the flesh from his bones the
same as any other living creature—that is, except for the Human who had dared to draw his blood.

  Looking down at the small cut left by the Human’s sword, then back to the barrier where he had gone through, the Merrow started to have doubts that it would be as easy as they thought to conquer this world. The Merrow started to walk the barrier for the hundredth time. Maybe now that the tower was destroyed, he would find a way. Looking back at the spot where the Human had entered, he said to himself, “I have to find a way through.” His people needed to know about this dangerous Human.

  Chapter 18

  When Lindon first exited the barrier, he turned, expecting the creature to follow. When he saw the outline of the creature turn away and start walking, he breathed a sigh of relief. The Merrow couldn't enter the barrier.

  Once again, Lindon's body was tingling from the magical energy that his protective bubble couldn't keep out. Nearing the edge of the barrier, he slowed to a walk. Stepping out, he scanned the area. At first he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but when he looked to the left of where he was, he noticed a wagon placed up against the barrier.

  Lindon approached the wagon, keeping an eye out for danger. Looking into the wagon, Lindon gasped, “My God, who could do such a thing to another living being?” The sight before him was almost impossible to believe. There, laying in the wagon, was a live Ork—a female by the look of it, but was hard to be sure. From the waist down, all that was left of her were bones—no skin or muscle, just raw bone. Above the waist, melted skin reached up to the breasts.

  Lindon wanted to turn away from the sight of the tortured Ork, but when he looked into her eyes, he couldn't. Lindon thought about ending her existence as mercy but the look she gave him was one of such helplessness that he just couldn't do it.

  With a last look around, Lindon climbed into the wagon, not sure if he would be able to heal all of her injuries. Lindon's body was still full to bursting with the magic he had absorbed from the barrier, but he didn't think even that would be enough.

  Sitting beside the poor Ork, Lindon placed his hands on her chest. She watched his movements through pain-filled eyes. Lindon closed his eyes and brought the magic to his hands. Slowly he started to release the power. As it flowed into his hands, it transformed from raw magic into healing energy.

  The wound on the chest and arms were not too hard to heal, most of the damage was only on the surface. Moving down to the legs was another story; there was nothing to work with. Only the bones were left. Lindon once again closed his eyes; imagining how the legs should be, he sent healing energy into them.

  Lindon didn't know how much time had passed since he had first started healing, but upon opening his eyes, tissue was forming on the legs. The magical energy he had been holding was almost exhausted, and he had a long way to go before they would be healed. As Lindon sat back, panting from the exertion of healing, an idea popped into his head. Looking at the barrier that was right next to him, he extended one of his legs into the field of magical energy.

  The injured Ork had been watching Lindon as he had been healing her, marveling at the miracle of his healing her body. When Lindon extended his leg into the barrier, she had tried to sit up to stop him. She watched in wonder; the leg was not melting as hers did when she was rolled into it. The pain of that was something that she would always remember for the rest of her life.

  Lindon didn't look up from what he was doing. The magic from the barrier instantly rejuvenated him and now he had a ready source of magic to draw from. Not wasting any time, he started healing the legs and pelvic area.

  Still controlling the flow of energy and not wanting to over do it, he went slowly. The power of the barrier was too much to leave his leg in, so every time he would become too full of the energy, he would remove his leg. When he would get low, he would put it back in.

  Lindon sat back, breathing hard from the healing. Exhausted even with the ready source of magical energy, Lindon didn't see or hear the approach of an Ork male. The only warning he got was when the newly healed Ork female inhaled sharply. Lindon started to turn when the Ork knocked him over the head; the last thing he saw was the stricken face of the Ork he had just healed.

  With her hands over her mouth, she watched her savior knocked unconscious by her tormentor. “This place for sacrifice to masters, not for Human,” the brute said.

  Looking back and forth between the two, something snapped in her mind and for the first time in the history of the Orken race, a female attacked a male. Screaming in anger, she propelled herself up and over the side of the wagon, straddling the brute's chest; the surprise to the male Ork, as his latest sacrifice landed on his chest momentarily stunned him into immobility. She pulled back on his hair, exposing his neck. With another roar of rage, she sank her teeth in, and using all of her strength, she ripped out his throat.

  Standing over the dead Ork, she looked down in horror at what she had done. Looking up, she scanned the area to see if anyone had witnessed her crime. Seeing no one, she quickly rolled the dead Ork into the barrier. Looking around again, she bent over the edge of the wagon, pulling the Human out and over her shoulder, and started away from the barrier and her place of torment.

  Chapter 19

  The Ork female carried Lindon over her shoulder for the rest of the day and into the night, wanting to put as much distance between them and her people. She didn't know why she did what she did. None of her people had ever gone against the wishes of the masters before. If they said you were to be sacrificed, you accepted their judgment and went to your death willingly.

  What had changed? She didn't know, but one thing she did know: Her life was now with this Human. She had forsaken her people and traditions all for him; yes, he had healed her but that wasn't the only reason for her change in loyalties. There was something in his eyes when he had looked at her during his healing of her battered body. Still not believing that he was capable of healing her, she once again looked down at herself, marveling at the sight of her legs. There was no pain, nothing to indicate that they were once raw bone.

  The look in his eyes was one of compassion, but that was not it either. There was something else in the look: anger, not at her but what was being done to her, and the realization that he could do something for someone not of his own, but an enemy.

  She knew when he had first looked over the wagon with his weapons that he was the one that the masters were looking for. She had seen many Humans; not one of them carried two swords like this strange human. Her masters would reward greatly if she had brought him to them. Yet here she was fleeing her people with him draped over her shoulder.

  When morning approached and the sun was just starting to rise, the Human moaned. Looking for a clear area to lay him down, she gently placed him on his back. Stepping back, she went to her knees to wait upon his waking.

  Lindon woke with a start. Sitting up quickly, he almost blacked out again from the movement. He brought his hand up to his head. Feeling around, he didn't find any blood, only a bump where he was hit.

  Looking around, he spotted the Ork female kneeling before him with her head bowed. He wasn’t sure what to say, so just said, “Hello.”

  At first there was no response from the Ork. “Hello,” he repeated, louder. “Can you understand me?”

  Still no response. He looked around again to see if he could recognize where he was but didn’t see anything familiar. He carefully stood up, not wanting to pass out again from his head wound.

  Lindon checked his swords. They were still on his back. He looked down again at the one that had brought him there. “Hello, my name is Lindon. What’s yours?”

  This time the Ork spoke. “I Nara,” she answered.

  “Nice to meet you, Nara. I don't suppose you know where we are?”

  “I carried you for day and night to here,” she answered still looking at the ground.

  “Is there a reason that you are kneeling on the ground and not looking at me?” Lindon asked.

  �
�You male and me, female,” she answered as if that would explain.

  Seeing no threat from the Ork, he knelt down in front of her, reaching out his hand and placing it under her chin. Lindon brought her face up even with his. “You are not just a female; you are someone that saved me and carried me away. I would like to call you friend,” he told her.

  As Lindon looked in to her eyes he was struck again by the color of them; they were the deepest blue he had ever seen and they seemed to look into his soul. As they did, Lindon could also see into hers.

  They sat there on the ground just looking into each other’s eyes for a full minute before anything was said.

  “Who are you?” she asked with a tremble in her voice.

  “I told you, I am Lindon.”

  “When I see you I know you, but have not met you,” she said. Now her whole body was trembling.

  “I do not know either, there is something between us but I have no idea what. When I saw you in the wagon, I knew I had to help you. We are connected somehow. I feel like we were meant to be with each other,” Lindon said. “I have only felt this way with two other people,” Lindon whispered to himself.

  He was about to say more to Nara but a noise came from the trees around him. Standing up, he pulled his swords, trying to see what it was.

  Lindon was standing over the still kneeling Ork when suddenly, out of the surrounding trees fifty Orks emerged.

  The leader stepped forward. “Why you here with Human?” he asked Nara.

  She didn't answer. All she could do was huddle on the ground in fear.

  Seeing the fear that this Ork was causing Nara brought a rage to Linon that almost scared him. He assumed that this Ork was the reason for her injuries beside the barrier. In a low and deadly voice, he murmured, “You are not wanted here; leave while you can.”